List of all free museums in Prague for 2024, including museums that are open for free on Czech public holidays. Unfortunately, apart from a few museums mainly themed around the army or war, Prague doesn’t have many free museums. Saying that, I’ve managed to find out (and visit) 9 different free museums in Prague, that are open most of the year.
The entry cost to most Prague museums is still very affordable, often it’s a case of having one or two coffees or buying a ticket to a museum, that kind of cost… But, I completely understand, if you are travelling to Prague on a strict budget, you might like to know which museums are completely free and that’s fine too!
Most museums (or at least the ones looked after by the Prague main museum department) are free several times a year, usually during Czech National Public Holidays linked to the Czech Independence Days. Those that are not completely free, have a reduced entry fee, which is significantly lower than normal. For example, the Technical Museum is usually 280 CZK but on Czech public holidays the ticket is only 50 CZK).
- 18 May – The International Museum Day
- 29 September – St. Wenceslas Day
- 28 October – Independence Day
- 17 November – Red Velvet Revolution Day
List of museums with free entry on Czech national public holidays
- National Museum – Vaclavske Namesti 68, Prague 1
- Naprstek Museum of Asian, African and American Cultures – Betlemske Namesti 1, Prague 1
- The Ethnographic & Folk Museum – Kinskeho Zahrada 98, Prague 5
- Museum of Czech Music – Karmelitska 2/4, Prague 1
- Antonín Dvořák Museum – Ke Karlovu 20, Prague 2
- The National Memorial – U Pamatniku 1900, Prague 3
- Bedřich Smetana Museum – Novotneho Lavka 1- Prague 1
During the ‘free entry days’ you don’t need to buy a ticket or pre-book, just turn up. The National Museum is always busy on these days, so go early to avoid disappointment, as the number of people in the museum is usually controlled (it’s quite a high number, but still…).
Czech people are used to these days as open days and since it’s a holiday for everyone, there are lots of people planning the visit. The smaller museums like the music museum or even the ethnographical museum, are never that busy.
I always go to the National Museum to check new exhibitions as these tend to be different every few months and there is always something new to see.
The museums are usually open 9 am – 5 pm on these free open days.
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National Technical Museum – discounted days for 2024
Whilst the National Technical Museum is never open for free, there are few days when you can visit for much lower ticket price. The regular ticket is 280 CZK, but on the following days you can visit for 80 CZK (adults) and 40 CZK students/retired person with children under 6 years free.
- 18.5 – Saturday – International Museum Day
- 5.7 – Friday – Aniversary of the museum founding
- 7.9 – Saturday – Days of European Heritage
- 28.9 – Saturday – St. Wenceslas Day
- 28.10 – Monday – Czech Independence Day
- 17.11 – Sunday – The Velvet Revolution
- 18.12 – Wednesday – Aniversary of ex president’s Vaclav Havel death
Symbolic ticket cost museums opened on special days
- Kampa Museum – first Tuesday of each month, tickets for over 65 years old are only 50 CZK
- Technical Museum – all special national bank holidays – see above – tickets are only 80/40 CZK
The Museum exhibitions at the Czech National Bank
If you fancy walking into a real safety bank vault, then you should visit the exhibition titled “People and Money” which is located in the original vault of the Živnostenská Banka, which is now the Czech National Bank. You’ll learn the Czech history of money and banking.
The newest addition to the exhibition is a gold coin with a nominal value of 100,000,000 CZK! This coin, which is the largest gold coin in Europe and the second largest in the world, was issued by the Czech National Bank in 2019 to mark the 100th anniversary of the creation of the Czechoslovak currency.
- Location: – Na Prikope, Old Town, Prague 1, the nearest underground metro station is Namesti Republiky
- Opening Times: Tuesday – Saturday: 10 am – 6 pm (it is best to pre-book during weekdays or just turn up to see when it’s the next available slot, Saturdays don’t require pre-booking).
- Entry: Free
Army Museum
The Army Museum is under Zizkov Vitkov Hill where you can also find the warrior Jan Zizka riding on a horse statue that’s visible from most parts of Prague.
The museum was opened to the public in 1932 and went through a complete reconstruction from 2018 to 2022 with new exhibitions added. The museum exhibitions map out the military history of Czech territory in seven separate parts from the beginning until today. The exhibition area covers an impressive 5,000 square meters on four floors, with over 7,000 exhibits displayed in nearly 300 display cabinets and there are some interactive displays too.
The museum has a lovely cafe a the top floor with an outdoor terrace, where you can see the historic centre of Prague and Prague Castle.
The last time I visited, I spent most of the day there as the museum is really large, but more importantly, the exhibits are presented in an engaging way. The descriptions are both in Czech and English, so you should be able to follow everything.
Some exhibitions are very detailed and whilst the staff usher you to start ‘from the beginning’, you are welcome to pick the era you prefer to learn about. The First and the Second World War is particularly well done, it’s very thought-provoking and whilst not exactly interactive, it has a lot of exhibits and the whole area is interestingly designed.
- Location: U Pamatniku 2, Zizkov, Prague 3, From the outside the Florenc Main Bus stop – at the underground metro station Florenc (lines C a B) take bus numbers 133, 175 or 207 and get off at the stop U Památníku. You can also take bus number 175 to the same stop from the underground stop Flora on line A.
- Opening Times: Tuesday – Sunday: 10 am – 6 pm (closed on Mondays)
- Entry: Free
Museum of Czechoslovak Legions
This museum is one of my favourite finds and a true little gem amongst the museums in Prague. I first visited the museum a few years ago, because my great-grandfather was in the Italian Legionaries and was honoured by the new Czechoslovak president Thomas Garrigue Masaryk with two different medals and a certificate to thank him for helping to create the new Czechoslovak state in 1918. The museum had a record of his name and service. I was able to supply them with one of his army photos of him in uniform which they scanned onto their database. I felt proud to honour his memory.
The museum was established on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the establishment of an independent state, in the basement of the Legie Hotel.
The exhibition is focused on the first resistance movement and the history of the formation of Czechoslovak Legions and the Czechoslovak state. The museum is quite small, but packed with exhibits, examples of uniforms, photos, guns and individual stories of soldiers fighting in different legions across Europe.
Part of the museum is also the ‘Legiovlak’ – the legionaries train, which is travelling through the Czech Republic during the main tourist season and stops at selected stations for a week at a time. The train stops also in Prague at Masaryk’s Train Station. The last time this was in October 2023 and the times for 2024 haven’t been yet published. The train exhibition is also free to enter.
Legiovlak consists of 15 reconstructed carriages that introduce you to the life and struggle of legionnaires on the Trans-Siberian Railway during World War I. Tens of thousands of Czechoslovak legionnaires were transported by these trains across Russia on the Trans-Siberian Railway between 1918 and 1920.
The train has a field post car, a kitchen car, a regimental store, an accommodation car, a film car, a tailor’s car, a medical car, a staff car, a command car, and an armoured car.
All carriages have various exhibits of equipment, legionnaires in period uniforms and also photographs mapping the history of Czechoslovak legions. Most displays are in the Czech language, but the latest exhibition on one of the train carriages is also in English..
- Location: Sokolska 486/33, Prague 2 – closest underground station and tram stop is IP.Pavlova – tram 22, 10, 16
- Opening Times: Tuesday until Friday: 9 am – 6 pm
- Entry: Free
The museum of Infant Jesus of Prague at The Church of Our Lady Victorious and Saint Anthony of Padua
Infant Jesus of Prague or in Czech – Pražské Jezulátko (in Latin: Jesulus Pragensis) is a small wooden statue with a layer of coloured wax sculptured into a standing child representing Jesus Christ as a young child.
The statue is displayed in the Church of Our Lady Victorious and Saint Anthony of Padua in the Lesser Town in Prague and there is also a little free museum of the statue’s clothes, where you can also learn more about the legend of the Infant Jesus of Prague.
To get to the museum you need to walk through the church, where the statue is displayed. The church is always busy with people, who walk up to the Infant Jesus of Prague and in silence, admire the display, look up all the dedications and read the prayer to the statue.
The museum itself is very small, but if you combine it with the visit to the church, the shop and having a coffee from the coffee cart at the front of the church, it’s a quiet interlude to a busy day of sightseeing in the more touristy parts of Prague.
- Location: Karmelitska Street 9, Lesser Town, Prague 1 – walking distance from the Malostranske Namesti (Lesser Town Square). You can get the tram 22 that stops just outside the church – a stop called ‘Helichova’ if you are travelling from Malostranske Namesti. If you are travelling from the opposite direction (from Ujezd) it’s better to get off at Malostranske Namesti and walk back or take the tram for one stop. The nearest underground stop is Malostranska on the A Metro Line.
- Opening Times: The church is open every day from 8.30 am until 6 pm Monday to Saturday and until 7 pm on Sunday. The museum is open Monday – Saturday 9.30 – 5 pm and Sunday 1 pm – 6 pm.
- Entry: Entrance to the church and the museum is free and donations are very welcome (or you can buy something in the church shop at the entrance)
The Museum of Czech Television
The Museum of Czech Television is based at the Czech Television Centre and a definitely worth visiting if you are visiting Prague with children. It’s a little bit outside Prague centre, but easy enough to get there by underground and a bus and less than 30-40 minutes from the centre. It’s a great place especially for children, as the museum has many interactive games, real props from the shows and colourful displays.
The current exhibition is called ‘Telka Celebrates 70’ (Telka is a Czech nick name for television) and you can see exhibits from more than forty popular programs broadcasted in recent decades, including children’s programmes, cooking and dancing shows, travel programmes and popular films. You can also try to have a go at working in a film dubbing studio.
- Location: Na Klaudiánce, 147 00 Praha 4, the closest underground is ‘Pankrac’ or ‘Prazskeho Povstani’ and then 10-15 min walk or get the bus number 134 to the stop ‘Kavci Hory’
- Opening Times: Monday – Friday (weekdays only) 10 am – 6 pm (closed during public holidays)
- Entry: Free
National Memorial to the Heroes of the Heydrich Terror and the Ss. Cyril and Methodius Cathedral
This memorial commemorates the brave Czechoslovak parachutists who assassinated Reinhard Heydrich, a high-ranking Nazi official, in 1942. After the assassination, the parachutists were sheltered in the crypt of the cathedral by the Czech Orthodox Church. Unfortunately, the Nazis discovered their hiding place and none of the parachutists survived.
You can visit the crypt, where you can still see the bullet holes and shrapnel marks visible on the walls. I found particularly haunting the experience of standing still in the crypt, listening to the distant cars and people traffic outside the church, thinking this is what the people there might have heard as well when they were hiding there.
The memorial has a small museum that exhibits artefacts related to the assassination and the resistance movement, including weapons, documents, and personal belongings of the parachutists.
It’s also worth visiting the church of St. Cyril and Methodius upstairs, where you can see the original entrance to the crypt underneath.
The memorial is open every day apart from Mondays, all year round. Because it’s free and on the educational curriculum of Czech schools, it can get quite busy. The place (as you can imagine) is very small, so if you see that it’s busy inside, it’s worth coming back later after 3 or 4 pm when the day visitors and schools have already gone.
- Location: Resslova 9a, New Town, Prague 2 – walking distance from Charles Square – Karlovo Namesti tram stops or underground stops.
- Opening Times: Tuesday until Sunday: 9 am – 5 pm (closed on Mondays)
- Entry: Free
Wallenstein Palace
Whilst this is not exactly a museum, I thought I’d add the Wallenstein Palace too, since it’s in the centre of Prague and has the most amazing history, a great garden and beautifully decorated rooms.
The Wallenstein Palace is the current seat of the Czech Senate, which is open to the public every Saturday during the summer season from April to October for free tours. The tours are in Czech language, but you’ll be able to look around and see all the rooms, which are normally not accessible to the public. The main palace hall has imposing ceiling murals and the whole palace is decorated in a baroque style.
The Wallenstein Palace was built by the powerful Czech nobleman and Imperial Generalissimo Albrecht Václav Eusebius of Valdštejn (1583-1634) as his Prague residence. The new palace complex was built on the site of the older Trčkovský Palace and another 30 houses and gardens.
This magnificent building was even supposed to look better than Prague Castle at the time. The palace was designed by the Italian architect Andrea Spezza and other Italian masters such as Nicolo Sebregondi and Giovanni Pieroni were also involved in creating this amazing building.
- Location: Valdstejnovo Namesti (Wallenstein Square), Lesser Town, Prague 1 – you can walk through the Wallenstein Garden, which is within walking distance from the Malostranska Underground Station or Malostranska tram stops no. 22, 15, 20
- Opening Times: Saturdays only 9 am – 5 pm during the main tourist season (April – October)
- Entry: Free
Aircraft museum Prague-Kbely
I know that this won’t be everyone’s cup of tea and that the location of this museum is a little far from the centre of Prague, but if you are into planes, helicopters, war history or general flying history, you are in for a treat!
Not only is this museum completely free to enter, but it’s also absolutely huge! The museum is partly indoors with displays in several aircraft hangars and party outdoors with displays of helicopters and planes.
There is a little cafe inside the museum, but it’s worth bringing your own sandwiches and snacks as there are no restaurants or shops nearby.
When I visited towards the end of September, I spent nearly a whole day there as there was so much to see and the displays were fairly comprehensive (and mostly in English too).
The museum was founded in 1968 in the area of the historic military airfield Prague-Kbely, which was the first air base built after the establishment of Czechoslovakia state in 1918.
It is one of the largest aviation museums in Europe. Currently, it has 275 aircraft, almost 100 of which are exhibited in covered halls, 25 in uncovered exhibition spaces, 155 are stored in depositories, and 10 airworthy ones are in operation. Many of the aircraft are world-class, unique types of planes.
The museum’s exhibition is directly related to the history of Czechoslovak and Czech aviation, especially military aviation. You will also find international aircraft, as well as a large number of aircraft engines, aircraft frame components, weapons, uniforms, flags, decorations, and other memorabilia related to the history of Czechoslovak and Czech aviation.
- Location – Mladoboleslavská 425/9, Kbely, Prague 9 – the Army museum is about 45 minutes by public transport from the centre of Prague. From Muzeum Underground station (top of the Wenceslas Square) take the C line to Letnany (9 stops) (or change where necessary to get to Letnany on C line from where you are) and then take the 185, 209 or 302 bus to Letecke Muzeum – the bus stops directly in front of the museum main entrance.
- Opening Times: Open during the main summer season from May until September, Tuesday – Sunday: 10 am – 6 pm (closed on Mondays), also open during October but only at the weekends (Saturday + Sunday: 10-6pm
- Entry: Free
Lidice Memorial
The Lidice Memorial commemorates a small village outside of Prague, which was razed to the ground by German Nazis on June 10, 1942.
This was revenge for the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich, a prominent Nazi official which happened a few weeks earlier in Prague. The Memorial is set on the grounds where the village was and you can walk through the grounds to see the remains of the buildings, cemetery and church.
The memorial was opened in 1969 and also includes a museum, a sculpture garden, and a reconstructed village street. The museum houses a permanent exhibition on the history of Lidice and the massacre, as well as temporary exhibitions on related topics.
The memorial is open for free all year round and entry to the exhibition areas is inexpensive if you wish to visit them.
You can walk around the memorial for free and whilst I really liked the museum too, the walk around the original Lidice village is so moving that you don’t always need more information to make it come alive. The area is quite large and you can walk all the way to the old cemetery on one side and then up the hill to the new Lidice village that was built after the war.
I always like to combine the visit with a walk – the green tourist-marked trail will take you to Bustehrad on one side (plenty of buses back to Prague from there) or to Makotrasy, which is a village that’s also linked to Lidice’s sad story as few men from the village were also tragically killed by the Nazis.
- Location: Tokajicka 152, Lidice – the Lidice memorial is about 45-60 minutes from the centre of Prague, depending on which connection you get. From the centre of Prague (Staromeska, Malostranska, Mustek) take the A line underground to Nadrazi Veleslavin and then the bus 300, 322 or 324. Ride 4 stops to Pamatnik stop, which is right in front of the memorial.
- Opening Times: Open during the whole year, any time: Monday- Sunday: 10am – 6 pm (closed on Mondays),
- Entry: Free entry to the memorial grounds (inexpensive entry to the exhibitions and free entry to the museum and exhibitions on special days
- 8. 5. 2024 – Victory Day
- 18. 5. 2024 – International Museum Day
- 9. – 10. 6. 2024 – Lidice village burned down
- 9. 9. 2024 – celebrating Lidice village
- 28. 9. 2024 – St.Wenceslas Day
- 28. 10. 2024 – Independence Day
- 11. 11. 2024 – International day of war veterans
This blog post was originally written on 9 November 2023 and last updated on 9 November 2023
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